Norman calls golf's drug testing 'disgraceful'

SYDNEY — Greg Norman said golf’s anti-doping procedures are “disgraceful” and blood testing needs to be instituted as soon as possible.

“You only have to look at what happened to Vijay Singh just recently to know the drugs issue is there,” Norman told The Australian newspaper earlier today.

Singh acknowledged in a magazine interview in January that he had used deer antler spray, which contains a muscle-building hormone banned by the PGA Tour.

It can be detected only by blood tests.

“How deep it is (the problem), I have no idea because we only do urine analysis instead of blood testing,” Norman said. “If you really want to be serious about it and find about what’s really going on, we need to do blood testing. I think it’s disgraceful, to tell you the truth. The golf associations have to get together and step it up.

“It’s a pinprick for a player and you find out what’s going on. If you’re the head of golf or any sport, if you’re the commissioner for a sport, it’s your responsibility to make sure your sport is clean. ... That should be your No. 1 priority.”

The Aussie golf great was back in his home country this weekend for his golf-course design work.

“Any sportsman or sportswoman who uses an outside agency to improve their skills is cheating,” Norman said. “It sickens me. They’re putting a black eye on their sport. If a sport gets itself clean, the corporate dollars will always be there because people will know it’s a sport they can trust. The rest will take care of itself.”

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities suspended the operating licenses of pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera and nine Iraqi TV channels on Sunday after accusing them of escalating sectarian tension.The move signaled the Shiite-led government’s mounting worries over deteriorating security amid Sunni unrest and clashes that have left more than 180 people dead in less than a week.The suspensions,